Brazil to escape recession in first quarter of 2017, says minister

RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb. 1 -- Brazilian Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles said on Wednesday that his country is returning to a path of growth and will manage to escape recession in the first quarter of 2017.

The Brazilian economy has faced a recession over the last two years. The industrial sector's output has been in a downwards trajectory for the past three years, the annual basic interest rate currently stands at 13 percent, and the inflation rate was at above 6 percent last year.

Despite those indicators, Meirelles expressed his confidence at a business event in Sao Paulo that the Brazilian economy will manage to overcome its difficulties in the near future.

"We expect a moderate growth in the first quarter," the former central bank governor said. "The GDP will grow moderately in the first quarter and stay on a growth trajectory during the year."

The country's GDP figures for the fourth quarter of 2016 have yet to be released, but those for the first nine months of 2016 fell 4 percent compared to the same period in 2015.

By the end of the year 2017, the situation will get improved, Meirelles said, estimating a 2-percent growth in the fourth quarter of this year.

The most recent estimates made by the International Monetary Fund include a 3.5-percent GDP fall in 2016 and a 0.2-percent rise in 2017. However, the government is more optimistic, foreseeing a 1-percent GDP growth for this year as a whole.